St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-05

Out Int lufSStlSdttUH HSCcSodl1 ~ uc-
termine the bona fide or fraudulent
character of any of them"
1t thus happened that the present adj
ministration at the very start was con-
frOnted with large accumulation of
cases upon the files and records of the
land department, iii many of which If
Irregularities and inSuiiiciency of proof
were apparent, and in others alleged
fraud in the inception or attempted con-
summation. but no investigation had. 1t
was evident that the administration of
the laad office would be powerlesS to
prevent this iGdiscriminate and whole
sale absorption of the public domain by
fraudulent means. unless steps were
taken at once to arrest the issuing of
patents without the investigation nee
essary to determine their bona fide or
fraudulent character 1t was de-
termined. therefore. to inaugurate new
methods and establish other rules, which
it was hoped would tend to prevent
! these frauds and to facilitate and pro-
mote the interests of the honest settler.
Assuming the declarations made by the
then commissioner, and evidently be-
lieved by my predecessor 10 be true,
anything like an approximate arrest in
the amount of fraudulent entries of
every kind and in the Issuance OF fraud
ulent patents must materially and sig
nally diminish both.
New rules to remedy these great
abuses. thus announced and reit
Grated. have now been in operation for
some time and are acting we'll; yet the
claims which were initiated under them
have not yet been reached and passed
upon preliminary to patent. for the rea
son that it was found necessary to clear
away as far rs possible the mass of SuS-
pended and uninveStigated cases which
had accumulated during former years.
Most of the work has now been disposed
Of. The new cases are now about
reached, and will be disposed Of with
much more expedition and facility than
was. perhaps. heretofore practicable: so
that settlers will hereafter receive the
munimentS of their title in compare
lively short time.
Perhaps one of the immediate effects
of the new methods adopted by the
land Office TO insure more strict COM
pliance with law in the acquisition of
title to the public lands. is shown by the
falling off in the number OF original
homestead, timber culture, and desert
land entries during the past year. This
decrease may be accepted as proof that
the new methods are bearing legitimate
fruit, and that spectators and other
eYaderS of the law have found out that
at last it is not safe for them to attempt
to patent land without honest cOmpli-
ance with the necessary legal pTerequi-
sites. 1t also shows that many patents
hitherto Issued without the inveStiga-
ton necessary to determine their bona
fide or fraudulent character" went to
those WHO did not desire them for
| homes.
The report of the commissioner dem
OnStrateS the imperative necessity of
providing much larger force of special
agents for effective work in the proven
ton of these frauds upon the govern
ment and the people. | concur with
him as TO the necessity of such legisla-
ton, but | deem it my duty TO state that
the most liberal appropriations for this
purpose will be inadequate to prevent
the wholesale appropriation of the pub
lie lands either by actual frauds or such
technical compliance with the pre-
emption, timber-culture and desert-Iand
laws, as will violate and defeat the
great policy of our public land system
looking to the preservation Of the public
lands for the abOdes of our homeless
people. to be acquired by actual settle
ment. residence and cultivation. With
these laws in force and the appliances
operation, every attempt by mere adj
miniStrative agencies TO prevent the
evils complained of will be fruitieSS and
unaVailing.
respectfully but earnestly reiterate
my advice that you recommend the I'M
mediate and total repeal of the pre-
emption laws. the timber culture acts,
and the REIMBURSEMENT acts, and add
thereto the cash entry laws and the
desert land law. PreferriRg tentative
and gradual sy stem of reform. have
hitherto suggested amendments to these
two latter, but the failure of congress to
make such amendments, and further
experience of the injurious effects of
their remaining on the statute book in
their present form has convinced me
that all except the homestead law should
be swept from the statute book. More
than quarter of a century has elapsed
since the passage of the homestead law.
Its operations, at least during the last
decade, have shown it to be
the wiSeSt and most honest
method Of diSpcsing of the agricultural
public lands, embracing all the advan-
tageS of the presumption system with
out its acknowledged facilities for fraud
and abuse. My idea would be a short
act repeating those laws by enumera-
ton and providing that the public land
subject to disposal should be entered
exclusively under the homestead laws.
The mineral lands and the timber re-
serves. and some other specific laws APP
plicable to particular sections of the
country, should be saved from the oper-
alton of the act. The passage of such a
law. apart from its other benefits, would
be in the interest of economy, as it
would SupeTSede the necessity of so
large an increase in the clerical force of
the bureau as is now demanded under
existing law.
ADJU STMENT OF RAILROAD GRANTS.
Shortly after my appointment to the
position [ now have the honor to hold,
and a. | became somewhat familiar
with the public land system, its organi-
cation. and the workings thereof. be-
came more and more impressed with
the fact that the public domain was be-
ing diverted from its legitimate purpose
and converted to objects the inevitable
effects of which were repGgnant TO the
entire theory on which the land system
was based.
Apart from the methods of illegal ap-
preparation of the public domain eff
fected through the perverSiOn of the
several laws for acquiring title thereto,
[ became convinced that the admins
tration of congressional grants of lands
to wagon and rail roads had given rise to
enormous abuses. Congress had not only
made grants which in some instances
exceeded in extent the area of a half
dozen of the largest and most populous
states of the Union. but in addition pro-
vided that any losses of lands within the
granted limits should be satisfied by Sc
lections of lands within other and adj
joining limits, thus nearly doubling the
area of the original grants. Under
these acts the land department had
withdrawn from public appropriation
by law. but also the lands within the in
demnity limits at the request of the
grantee companies. Thus enormous
a..